Think about it: Your Influence Stretches Far

INFLUENCEPrior to my wife’s death, she spent about three weeks in the hospital. I stayed with her every night and most of the day during that period. One evening, I was watching the TV and heard a politician give a political speech. I thought it was worth remembering, so I wrote it down. He made the statement (and I don’t recall who was making the speech at this time), “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

I have thought a great deal about that statement and the more I thought about it, the more I agree with it. If we want to be a good influence on others, we need to take time and show them how much we care about them and not waste our time and theirs talking about everything we know.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing.” My father was not a well-educated man.

However, I always considered him to be a very wise man with good old-fashioned common sense and very good morals. His life was one of good influence to others. He always reminded me, “actions speak louder than words.”

“The best way for a man to train up for a man to train up a child in the way he should go is to travel that way himself” [Anonymous].

Whether we realize it or not, our lives influence either for the good or for the bad. As Christian people, we have a responsibility to influence others for the good. What we say and how we say it can either encourage or discourage others.

“None of us liveth unto himself and no man dieth unto himself” [Romans 14:7]. “If meat makes my brother stumble, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth” [1 Corinthians 8:13]. It is my hope that when I leave this world, my influence will remain, and because of it, I will have made the world a better place. I refer back to the statement that I heard in the man’s speech that I mentioned at the beginning of today’s “Think About It. ”

I’m not really interested in trying to influence others with my knowledge; however, I would like to influence others with how much I care. “Their words do follow them” [Revelations 14:13]. THINK ABOUT IT!

(If you would like to order my new book THINK ABOUT IT please send check or money order in the amount of $13.45, which includes tax and postage, for each book payable to George Hazlett c/o Farm & Dairy, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460.)

About the Author

George A. Hazlett is a retired minister in the Church of the Nazarene. He has written the weekly column, Think About it!, published weekly in Farm and Dairy for almost 28 years. He and his wife, Myrna, live in Hartville, Ohio. More Stories by George A. Hazlett